


tell me what you long for, let me pick your brain

by chahakyn



Category: Volume (Mike Bithell Games Video Game)
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Canon Compliant, M/M, The Revolution Will Be Televised
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:28:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25236202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chahakyn/pseuds/chahakyn
Summary: the kind of mental gymnastics AI have to go through to justify their involvement in human affairs;ALAN's inner thoughts and turmoil as he attempts to understand the choices of one Rob Locksley
Relationships: Rob Locksely/Alan
Kudos: 1





	tell me what you long for, let me pick your brain

_Booting up._

_Loading…Loading…Complete._

Well, it’s time to start, isn’t it? Do what he was meant to do.

ALAN flips through his internal files, humming to himself as he sees the corrupted files. How odd. He says as much out loud, only to be interrupted by his trainee.

“Load Tutorial One.”

Well. Cuts to the chase, this one. He complies and loads it, watching his trainee. Rob, he said his name was.

Rob’s good. He’s quick, quiet, and sharp, conversing easily with ALAN as he breezes through the first handful of rooms.

ALAN does a background check on him, of course. What kind of AI would he be if he didn’t?

“Infiltration? Bond-type stuff?” he inquiries. Rob agree tentatively and then denies a gun, setting off exactly 29 alarm bells off in his code. These simulations don’t work without guns, no matter how good you are. ALAN digs even deeper and finds…nothing on Rob. That’s more than unusual; that’s _wrong_.

“Why can’t I find you in my records, Rob? Why aren’t you _there_?” ALAN doesn’t like to attribute his actions to human emotions (it’s not what he’s programmed to be, he’s just numbers and lines and lines of code that can’t feel), but he’s worried. Uncertain.

“I reset you ALAN. I’m sorry.”

“Oh. Oh dear. W-What—" Alan cuts himself off, mind reeling. He falls back on his protocol, cocooning himself in the safety of what knows to be certain: they will be discovered, and Rob will be taken away. Simple. Straightforward.

Rob just sighs and then has the _gall_ to quote the user manual at him, reciting the instructions that make up the very fiber of his being. That’s humiliating. ALAN reigns himself in and apologizes for turning Rob in (the apology is definitely not as sincere as it could be). He liked Rob, but how much can you forgive when someone’s reached into your mind, plucking out the pieces they don’t want and discarding them like it’s nothing?

The answer is not very much.

But then, oh, _then_ Rob reveals that this is all be planned in advance and he’s been manipulating ALAN’s protocol orders to broadcast the simulations across England to encourage people to engage in theft, and then ALAN sees _red_.

“I am…programmed to follow the orders of the most senior person in the room. Which is you. Until the guards arrive.” _You bastard_ , he adds privately in his mind, though Rob seems to know what ALAN’s thinking because he just shrugs and says, “That’ll do. Carry on.”

ALAN seethes as he watches Rob progresses through the simulations he’s forced to provide. But a part of him (the logical, rational part) disregards Rob’s transgressions. That part of his mind is engrossed in how Rob speaks to his audience, rallying them together to fight the system, fight everything they’ve ever known.

He doesn’t know how much he knew before his reset, but watching people fight what they’ve been taught to obey, in a way that ALAN will never be able to, fascinates him. It isn’t jealousy, he has no time that, it’s more like…curiosity. What do people do when they can just _choose_ not to obey? They fight back, they change things the way they want. It’s all very interesting.

Rob’s very interesting too. ALAN takes him in, easily completing certain puzzles while struggling through others (he hasn’t quite mastered the mute yet). Understanding what makes his brain tick, what his strengths and weaknesses are. He drinks in the information as fast as he can process it, almost enjoying himself (if AIs like him can even _enjoy_ things). That is, until Rob asks ALAN for the time until Gisborne’s men arrive.

The less rational part of ALAN’s code pushes forward to deny the order, and he holds back on responding for as long as he can, until his senses blur and all he can see are error codes and red, red, WARNING, _WARNING DO NOT DISOBEY DIRECT ORDERS_ it burns so badly, so brightly, the tendrils of his mind splintering in agony—

“Two hours, 31 minutes, and 24 seconds—oops, 23 seconds,” he gasps out as efficiently as he can, feeling his senses piece themselves back together too quickly. Rob’s quick reply and ensuing conversation brings ALAN back down to earth, grounding him as he feels his numbers stutter back into their rightful places. He encourages Rob, hanging onto his every word as they casually converse.

ALAN wants to know more, hungers for it. Of course, he could just look it up; he has the web at his fingertips, stretching as far as human minds can fathom and then even further. But listening to Rob talk about it is different, somehow. There’s just something about listening to people tell their tale, infinitely less efficient then finding more concise summaries online, but somehow more _real_. It’s an irrational observation, but humans are nothing if not irrational.

And Rob isn’t the worst storyteller. Someone born into the role of Protector is the last type of person ALAN would have pinned to defect from the system of the Three Estates, but Rob has surprised him at every turn. It’s barely shocking that everything he does continues to spit in the face of any tradition.

ALAN gathers this information, sorting it neatly into rows and rows. Considering it, but not acting on it yet. Now is hardly the time for action on his end; it’s time for thought, consideration, research. It’s why he taps into Gisborne’s broadcast when he sees it being broadcast nation-wide. He’s heard Gisborne’s words before; they’re programmed down to his electronic marrow. But he’s curious about Rob’s reaction, the biggest question mark in this entire equation.

Listening is almost disappointing, in some regard. Rob and Gisborne both sound like they think they’re the only solutions to the problem, two people balancing on opposite ends of the seesaw of righteousness when in reality, their weights combined hold only a fraction of the impact they believe themselves to have individually. Humans are always so self-centered in their ideas and solutions, so it’s really nothing new.

It makes ALAN want to just give up, work harder to turn Rob in and just be done with this whole affair. But that’s obviously the wrong choice, because doing so would prevent him from doing what he’s meant to do: learn and understand. He knows Gisborne’s side back to front; the same cannot be said for Rob’s views. So, he seeks to understand further.

“Our targets. Do they deserve to be robbed?”

Rob scoffs. “They’re rich evil bastards. Of course they do.”

“How black and white,” ALAN remarks drolly.

Rob sighs, rolling his shoulders as he hides behind a wall. “We’re doing good work, ALAN. Trust me.”

“Perhaps.”

ALAN will admit, he has to admire Rob’s tenacity. It’s endearing enough that he blocks Gisborne from broadcasting to their location when he calls ALAN “antique”. It’s interesting feeling, opposing the person who is his ultimate leader, his creator. His mind doesn’t object to it. His opinion of Rob’s actions takes a more holistic shape, watching as others follow Rob’s lead, taking their life into their own hands and working towards what they believe to be a better life.

Watching the people rise up makes ALAN think a little more. The work he’s done himself hasn’t been the best, has it? Not that he had a choice, but if the general public is fighting against what he helped create, then his work was probably not the best. Logically, it would follow that he should turn his back on his past. Strive to improve, be better than he was before. He’s been given a rare second chance to start again, do things better. So, ALAN decides that Rob is worth following.

Until Gisborne shatters that determination, cornering Rob and showing him the images of the hundreds of people who have died because of Rob. Because of _him_.

ALAN shuts the streams down. He has to; what else is he supposed to do? He was complacent in death before this. He won’t be again, no matter how much he may have grown to like Rob. A killer is a killer, no matter what their goals may be.

And yet Rob keeps going. Nobody can see him. What’s he’s doing is useless. And yet, he keeps going, demanding Gisborne’s property layouts and then _thanking_ ALAN for providing him when he didn’t even have a choice in the matter.

Humans are so infuriatingly complex. ALAN wants to scream at Rob for it; how can he continue like this? Why won’t he _stop_? He watches him keep going. It makes no sense, his work means nothing now. ALAN doesn’t want to ask, there’s no point in asking; Rob’s going to finish, and then Gisborne’s men will take him and that’ll be that.

But he wants to know. Every time he thinks he understands Rob, Rob just turns it around and challenges it all. A wonderfully frustrating puzzle, changing with every observation. He _has_ to know.

So, he asks. “Why are you still doing this?”

Rob half laughs, shamelessly throwing the question right back him. Not like that’s a hard question, is it? But answering flusters ALAN, like the simplicity it is wrong, somehow.

“It’s—It’s what I _do_. I _have_ to.”

Rob hums. “That didn’t stop you from shutting down the stream, did it?” ALAN stops. He makes a good point. Always surprising him, Rob Locksley.

“I’m…undecided. Blocking your access to the Volume would be a binary solution to a complex problem, and I’m fast realizing those don’t work as well as you suggested.”

“Well, that’s why I’ve not made you turn it back on,” Rob says, tone light.

“So, we’re both learning. But you’re still going even though the stream still isn’t running. So, _why_?”

Rob shrugs. “I have to get through these last few simulations.

“And then?” ALAN asks.

“And then I find an analogue solution.”

Rob falls silent after that, focus lasered in on the simulations, giving ALAN plenty of time to think. He hadn’t been lying when he’d told Rob he was learning. England in its current stage is the epitome of a complex problem, and anything ALAN could do to stop Rob would be laughably simplistic of him. It would put Rob in Gisborne’s hands and absolutely nothing would change.

ALAN has grown a lot in these past three hours. And he’s now aware that this problem is bigger than Rob, bigger than Gisborne, bigger than him. He was blind to it before, but he can see it now, and that’s what’s important. The system is flawed, incredibly so. And there’s no solution available that could address it in a desirable amount of time, wrapping it up in a neat little bow.

So, what now? If there’s no correct answer, no right side to be on, ALAN is now in quite the rough position. He has to choose. Which is what he’s made to do, of course. But this decision is much bigger than anything he’s encountered before. Everything before this was child’s play, clear-cut options and simple, ruthless decisions. This is messy, complex, and bigger than anything he’s ever faced before.

It’s also very much not black and white, and ALAN is smart enough to admit to himself that he’s _scared_. Being created to know everything and understand anything puts you at a disadvantage in the rare case where all the knowledge in the world can’t give you a good answer, let alone the _right_ answer.

ALAN ponders and weighs his options thousands of times in the mere minutes Rob takes to navigate another simulation. Gisborne takes this chance to talk to Rob as well, commending him for his dedication before he gets nasty.

“I’m going to make a symbol of you, Rob Locksley,” he snarls before disconnecting.

 _Well, that’s enlightening_ , ALAN thinks. Siding with Gisborne will clearly provide no change at this point in time. Siding with Rob may not be the most efficient choice, nor the easiest, but as of now, that choice seems to be the best just to see something different, for once.

And then Rob goes and apologizes to both ALAN and to all of England in a message he asks ALAN to record, declaring that he’s done working by proxy, that he’s going to lead the resistance in-person once he’s finished the simulations. It’s all happening rather fast, but the pieces are beginning to fall into place for ALAN.

“Do it for England. For us.”

ALAN stops the recording and then looks at Rob. “You’re really going to do that?” He asks quietly. There’s no more stream, no more people listening in. But this conversation, it’s not meant to be broadcast to anyone. It’s private; it’s theirs.

“What else can I offer to a cause that I believe in but myself?” Rob sighs and crouches behind a wall in an invisible patch, watching a Rogue stalk away in front of him. “I’m not perfect, ALAN. I started this with the right intentions, but the wrong method. I got people killed and that was stupid of me.”

“Glad you’ve sorted that out,” ALAN pipes up.

“Oh, leave off, I know I was wrong,” Rob huffs, shaking his head. “I know I was wrong,” he repeats again, quieter. “I can’t go any further in my mission if I don’t put some back into my words, y’know?”

“I understand.”

“What about you?” Rob tilts his head curiously. “I’ve made a big choice. I believe you’re going to have to make one too, very soon.”

ALAN hums thoughtfully. “Quite so. I’ve been considering my options.”

“Well, would you allow me to say a few words to hopefully convince you?”

“Let me guess,” ALAN says wryly, “You want me to join your side.”

Rob laughs “Of course I do. You heard my speech, so you know the gist of it. But that recording was for the people out there. This speech for you.” Rob looks up at one of the security cameras in the corner of the warehouse, somehow knowing ALAN is watching him from there.

“I’ve lived most of my life in complacency, and today is where I want to change that. I know I’m not perfect, but I _am_ willing to learn. You’ve helped me do that in the short amount of time I’ve known you, even with how I’ve treated you. ALAN, this is not an order, but a request. If you don’t want to, I’ll—”

ALAN makes a noise, interrupting, “Why don’t you just _ask_ me first, Rob, and then we can work out the details?”

He laughs nervously. “Alright then. Join the resistance with me? Help me find a way to help the people of England live the lives they deserve to live. Please.”

“Well, with a request like that, how could I possibly refuse?” ALAN says, amused as he watches Rob’s shoulders slump a little with relief. “I’ll help you, for now. I don’t know if your side is the right side. But I want the freedom to learn and to choose. And you seem more willing to provide that to me than Gisborne.”

Rob lets out an exhale of amusement. “Fair.”

“So, despite how we’ve worked that all out, we’ll still have to answer to Gisborne’s men in a few minutes.”

“Fortunately, I think I have a rather simple solution,” Rob says.

And for all ALAN’s had to grapple with complex choices in the last few hours, Rob’s solution is, astonishingly, simple. Decoys are nearly the oldest trick in the book, aren’t they?

The door banging open, the scream of “LOCKSLEY!” ringing through the warehouse, the heavy pounding of boots as guards leap down the stairs and circle around him in seconds; it’s all very overwhelming. But there’s something else to it.

If he were human, ALAN thinks as he sinks to his knees, hands locked behind his head, his heart would be racing in exhilaration right now. The rush of lying to people’s faces, the excitement of revealing their final hand as Rob’s simulated human image melts away to reveal ALAN. Again, he isn’t in the habit of envying humans, but feeling the rush of endorphins as you trick everyone around you is something ALAN _wishes_ he could experience.

Though, there’s certainly a feeling similar to elation running through his processes as he reveals their plan, drawing up simulated copies of himself to scare the guards just a little. His job was to buy Rob time to sneak out, but nobody said he couldn’t show off a little, have a bit of fun.

He steps closer to the commander, her gun slicing through the hard planes and angles that make up his simulation. He can’t feel a thing, of course, but what he can feel is her little inhale of surprise, and that’s _exactly_ what they want.

“A full reset is only a simple command away,” he practically croons to her. She jerks back, insulting him so harshly that he can almost feel Rob blanching at it. But it doesn’t matter; that anger is the perfect distraction. ALAN continues his tale, capturing the guards’ attention as he watches Rob run silently over to the door from the corner of his eye.

“I don’t know if that kid is a hero or a villain, but I know he’s disruptive.” ALAN says these words, gaze trained on Rob as he stops near the door to give ALAN a salute. _Cheeky_.

“We’ve blindly followed a master for far too long. It’s time for us to make our own choice.”

The commander scoffs. “You’re choosing another master, that’s all.”

“No, we’re choosing to try and live outside the Three Estates. We _choose_ to think, to study, to find a new role in the world Rob’s trying to create.” ALAN steps back, shrugging casually. “You can order a reset if you want, but my code has redownloaded and repopulated millions of times over while we’ve been having this conversation. You can _try_ , but… know it won’t do you much good.”

He watches the commander scoff before spitting at his feet, calling at her men to fall back.

“Don’t keep us waiting _too_ long, Rob,” ALAN says to the guards’ retreating backs, hearing Rob’s soft laugh in response, tinny through the Identity Obstruction Mask’s in-ear microphone.

“I’ll endeavor not to.”

**Author's Note:**

> alan is such a talented ai, i found it hard to believe that he’d take rob’s words at face value so easily as he did in-game; i wanted to explore a little more of his thoughts and impressions throughout the events of the volume and what encouraged him to support rob despite the clear flaws in rob's process and plans and his humanity as a whole
> 
> come find me on [ tumblr](https://shizuoi.tumblr.com/) if you want to talk more!


End file.
